Department for Transport

2022 Commonwealth Games: Games Transport Plan

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: My Right Honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps), has made the following Ministerial Statement.The 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, will be the biggest sporting and cultural event that the city and the region have ever seen. With an estimated television audience of 1.5 billion people, it will showcase Birmingham, the West Midlands and the entire country as an amazing place to live, work, study, visit and do business.Effective transport helps local communities and supports local economies. We are investing in transport across the region including over £320m of Transforming Cities Fund funding to support local transport projects in the West Midlands.We know that putting in place effective transport provision is a crucial part of any major sporting event and requires detailed planning and coordination. A well understood and supported Transport Plan is therefore essential.The Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 (the “Act”), which received Royal Assent on 25th June, includes a number of transport measures and places the Games Transport Plan on a statutory footing, awarding it appropriate weight and authority.Today, I am delighted to inform the House that, in line with s.25(1) of the Act, I have directed the West Midlands Combined Authority to prepare a Games Transport Plan for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.The Games will be delivered in a much shorter time than other Games: in just four and a half years, rather than the typical seven. Local partners in Birmingham and the West Midlands are already leading the transport preparations for the Games.The Games Transport Plan is an integral measure, which will set out a strategic approach to planning and coordination of transport to support the Games; covering the transportation of spectators, athletes and the Games Family, whilst at the same time ensuring that any disruption to transport users is kept to a minimum.When complete a copy of the final Games Transport Plan will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

Department for Education

Application System for Initial Teacher Training

Baroness Berridge: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for School Standards has made the following written ministerial statement on Friday 23 October.Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, published in January 2019, committed to a range of measures to help great people become teachers. One such measure is the introduction of a new application system for initial teacher training in England. This system will be easier to use and designed to better meet the needs of potential trainees. The new service will also support universities and schools delivering teacher training in making accurate decisions on whether their applicants are right for their courses.During the October 2019 admissions cycle, this digital service was piloted by a number of School Centred Initial Teacher Training providers and schools across England, and has been designed and improved based on feedback from candidates, universities and schools delivering teacher training.I confirm that from October 2020 the pilot will be extended to selected universities that deliver initial teacher training courses in England.The new service will fully replace the existing UCAS Teacher Training service for postgraduate applications in England from the October 2021 admissions cycle.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Citizens’ Rights: Update on Implementing the Withdrawal Agreement

Baroness Sugg: My Hon Friend the Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas (Wendy Morton MP) has made the following statement. The Withdrawal Agreement provides citizens with the certainty they need about their rights now that the UK has left the EU. It protects the rights of EU citizens in the UK, UK nationals in the EU and their family members who are lawfully resident by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. It ensures they can continue to live, work, study and access benefits and services, such as healthcare, broadly as they do now. The Government remains committed to ensuring the correct and timely implementation of the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement in the UK and continues to work with EU Member States to ensure they undertake the same implementation for UK nationals. We also have similar citizens’ rights agreements with the EEA EFTA States and Switzerland.Implementation for EU citizens in the UKIn the UK, EU citizens and their family members with both settled and pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme have secured their rights in UK law. The EU Settlement Scheme is a success and as of 30 September 2020, over 4 million applications have been received, of which nearly 3.8 million grants of status have already been made. The Government has taken early action to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK and there is plenty of time left to apply before the deadline of 30 June 2021. A Frontier Workers’ Permit Scheme is also being established with an opening date due to be announced shortly. Work to operationalise the provisions relating to social security coordination, are also advanced. Operational guidance will also be published to aid frontline staff in determining entitlements to benefits and healthcare in scope of the social security coordination provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government is also on track to establish the Independent Monitoring Authority for the citizens rights’ agreements that will monitor the UK’s compliance with the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement and EEA EFTA Separation Agreement in the UK and Gibraltar. Information on its functions have recently been published on gov.uk.Implementation for UK nationals in the EUThe Government has been working closely with EU Member States on implementation for UK nationals in the EU throughout the transition period. The Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights has already met three times to monitor the implementation and application of the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement in both the UK and the EU. Joint statements from each of these meetings have been published on gov.uk. The EU Settlement Scheme in the UK has been fully open since 30 March 2019. Throughout the transition period, we have sought application windows, beyond the minimum six-month window, in the thirteen Member States that will require UK nationals and their family members to apply for a new residence status. The Government is pleased to announce that all thirteen Member States have responded positively and UK nationals and will have at least eight months to apply and significantly longer in some Member States. Full details can be found on the ‘Living in Guides’ on gov.uk. The remaining fourteen Member States will operate a declaratory system, whereby rights under the Withdrawal Agreement are conferred automatically by operation of the law, for individuals that meet the conditions of the Withdrawal Agreement. As is already the case, UK nationals should ensure they are correctly registered in their Member State of residence.The Government will publish a full list of Member State frontier worker systems on gov.uk before the end of the transition period. The Government continues to work with the EU on clear and consistent communications and comprehensive support for the vulnerable. We are reaching out directly to UK nationals in the EU through our network of Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates at town hall events and online to ensure all UK nationals and their family members are aware of any actions they may need to take in the Member State where they have made their home.. Our ‘Living in Guides’ on gov.uk, which cover the EU and EFTA States , are the principal source of guidance for UK nationals in the EU, including their rights under the Withdrawal Agreement and EEA EFTA Separation Agreement. They provide the latest information and actions that UK nationals may need to take and signpost to Member State and EU guidance where relevant. Readiness for the end of the transition periodLooking to the end of the transition period and beyond, the Government published an “explainer” on gov.uk on 19 October 2020 to help EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU understand their rights and how they are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government is also pleased to confirm that a Joint Report on Residency, produced by the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights has, today, been published on gov.uk and placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The Joint Report provides comprehensive details of residency systems in the UK and the EU, including details of application deadlines and the number of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU who have secured their rights. It is the Government’s intention to publish updates to the Joint Report throughout 2021 in order to provide additional assurance that citizens’ rights are being upheld. The Government will continue to work closely with the EU and Member States to ensure that citizens’ rights are protected and individuals are aware of any steps may need to take to secure their rights and access the entitlements that flow from those rights in the future. Further details on the progress of implementing the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement will be made available to Parliament.